!UPDATED W/ SENTENCE~Ex-Boyfriend Charged With Capital Murder In Alicia Minton's Disappearance:

- Randall "Todd" Greenway

The ex-boyfriend of a missing woman from Bentonville has been charged with capital murder in the Benton County woman's mysterious disappearance.

Authorities in Benton County, Arkansas arrested Randall "Todd" Greenway, 38, in prison yesterday (04-20-10) on a capital murder warrant for the death of 29 year-old Alicia Minton.

Court documents, which have now been sealed by the court, paint a disturbing picture of Minton's alleged death---and those who have kept Greenway's secret.

Alicia Minton's mother took this picture of her daughter shortly before her disappearance

Minton, the mother of four children, disappeared after leaving her children with a friend at Enterprise Rent-A-Car on Walnut Street to Beaver Lake with Greenway on June 1, 2007. Three days after her daughters disappearance, Brenda Mathis filed a missing persons report with police.

Six days later, Minton's silver BMW was found in a parking lot near the intersection of Locust and Second streets. Two weeks later a purse was found floating in the water near Deer and Bear islands, near the Arkansas 12 bridge. Friends and family members positively identified it as belonging to Minton.

Charging documents allege that for over a month Greenway had been trying to convince Minton to go the lake. That is about the same time that Greenway discovered that Minton had been working undercover on some drug cases with the Rogers Police Department, to help Greenway out of some trouble he was in with cops. However, somewhere along the line Minton had a change of heart, telling detectives that she no longer wanted her efforts to benefit Greenway.

Investigators say that the front part of a boat belonging to Greenway's father was much cleaner than the rest of the vessel, and that two 35-pound weights were missing from Greenway's home shortly after Minton's disappearance.
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In an interview with detectives, Greenway's girlfriend (who is unidentified in the probable cause affidavit) told them that Greenway told her he had taken Minton out on the boat to an island and that she was "bitching" about her (Greenway's girlfriend,) and that it made him angry. He told the woman he walked up behind Minton, slit her throat and then forced her head in the water "because she was still alive and still bitching." He told the woman he wrapped Minton in a shower curtain, tied weights to it and drove away from the island and dumped her (Minton) in the water. Greenway told the woman "no one would ever find Alicia's body,"

Alicia Minton

The lake has not been kind to authorities and searchers. Underwater boulders, fences and foundations from old houses are hazards to divers and sonar equipment. There is little to no current in the water, even when Beaver dam is opened. One detective says that if body was tossed in the lake, it could stay where it landed forever.

From police encounters alone it appears that Greenway and Minton had an explosive relationship. Minton called police several times in 2006 and 2007 to report problems with Greenway.

In June 2006 Rogers police were dispatched to Greenway's residence on North 37th Street where they found Minton lying in the driveway with a golf ball-sized lump on her head. Minton allegedly told responding officers that Greenway dragged her from his home by her hair then slammed her head against the concrete driveway. Authorities were also contacted in the winter months of 2007 about Greenway sending threatening text messages to Minton

Greenway's criminal past dates back to 1993; most of his run ins with the law involve drug dealing or possession of drugs.

A little over a week after Minton's disappearance, authorities arrested Greenway on drug charges not related to the woman's disappearance. On June 21, 2007, Greenway pleaded guilty to five drug charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Several inmates who have done time with Greenway say that he has made killing Minton. One of those inmates told detectives that Greenway said Minton, "Couldn't talk anymore because she was throat less." Another inmate says Greenway told him "she's fish food by now," while yet another says that Greenway told him "he cut her throat and she bled out quickly. "

Benton County Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Sparks and a fellow officer drove over three hours to arrest Greenway on the murder warrant at the Wrightsville Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction. "He wasn't very talkative. He did tell us he was eligible for parole at the end of this year or sometime next year."


Sgt. Chris Sparks
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Sparks says he has had a few cases that have become "more than just a case to me...for sure, this is one of them." Sparks, who has become close to Minton's family says, "I want some sort of resolution for them. When you see all that they've had to endure, it tugs at your heart. I want them to find peace someday."

Greenway has been arraigned on the capital murder charge. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 16th.
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UPDATE JUNE 2011:

Greenway pleaded guilty to an amended charge of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for Minton's death.  That is in addition to the 20 years he was serving on drug charges.

The search for Minton's remains continues.
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UPDATE 08-15-11:

Dive teams from Missouri are assisting authorities in Arkansas in the search for Minton's remains in 60 to 120 feet of water north of Deer Island.